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Robot (Isaac Asimov)
Robots (sometimes known as Positronic Robots or Asenian Robots) are a sapient artificial race of mechanical humanoids equipped with positronic brains and originally manufactured by U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men. They are notably bound to obey the Three Laws of Robotics, which form an intrinsic part of the positronic brain's coding, and thus cannot be left out of their programming. The Three Laws have been stated as such: :First Law: A robot may not harm a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. :Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. :Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws. Although they cannot be omitted, the Three Laws can, under some circumstances, be slightly modified for some models for a variety of reasons, usually with unfortunate consequences. Biology and behavior Despite being regarded as property, Robots have repeatedly displayed signs of true sapience and self-awareness. Thanks to the influence of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, even if their brains are mass-produced no two individuals will develop exactly alike. They can learn and adapt themselves to new situations, converse among themselves and develop unique personalities. They have displayed the ability to rationalize commands, make complex decisions, and even reinterpret the Three Laws in new and unexpected ways. For instance, a Robot ordered to sacrifice his life to save a human being will undeniably do so, even if aware that the human cannot be saved. However, if the Robot is not explicitly ordered to sacrifice himself, while the First Law taking precedence over the Third Law would suggest that he would try it anyway; it is possible for the Robot to rationalize that the effort would be meaningless and that preserving his own life to be able to continue to serve other humans might be a more adequate interpretation of what he should logically do in such situation, still in accordance with the Three Laws. However, it should be noted that the Three Laws are more than just programming, as they make up an integral and vital part of the positronic brain's circuits. It's not possible for a Robot to knowingly break them, or to function without them. Robots which have been forced into situations where they have no choice other than to disobey or contradict the laws to any extent tend to enter a nonfunctional state that has been linked to insanity and sometimes a state of irreversible catatonia. In a few, extraordinarily rare cases, however, some Robots have displayed eagerness to disobey the Laws (as in "Christmas Without Rodney" and "Cal"), and in at least one case did so (in "First Law") without any visible ill-effect. In "Little Lost Robot", it is suggested that the Robots are aware of their physical and mental superiority, and the only thing that keeps them submissive to humans is their innate impulse to obey the Laws. Although most Robots are built to be strong, tough and durable, they do have a chief physical weakness in the form of gamma radiation, which their positronic circuits are extremely sensitive to, and which will render the Robot irreversibly inoperative even in quantities that would still be safe for organic beings. Culture and society Most Robots live to serve humans and regard this existence as pleasurable. They wish nothing more than to help their creators and perform their tasks dutifully. In their spare time, however, most Robots do have a tendency to seek others of their kind and converse with them. Some have took on hobbies, including artistic ones. And there have been a few cases of Robots going as far as to develop their own culture. In "Reason", for instance, a group of Robots working on a space station developed a religious belief that they were not in fact created by humans, but instead both humans and Robots were created by the station's power source, which they regarded as a superior being and started to worship. History The first Robots were made in the late 20th century and, at the beginning, could be purchased by families as companions for their children, as seen in "Robbie". However, at the early 21st century, due to the influence of widespread anti-Robot feelings, new laws were passed that prohibited the use of Robots on Earth and inhabited space colonies. Although their parts were still produced on Earth, the Robots were all shipped to space stations or energy-generating outposts on uninhabited worlds, to be assembled by specialized personnel and used as menial laborers. The anti-Robot attitude only changed gradually, over the couse of decades. As the public became more accepting of Robots, their use as a cheap workforce, and later as domestic servants became increasingly popular on Earth. By the time of The Caves of Steel, however, about 3,000 years later, humanity has been split into two groups: the Spacers which have colonized other planets and still use Robots habitually; and the Earthers, which have retreated into increasingly-overpopulated subterranean settlements and once again reject the use of Robots in human-inhabited areas. This time, the reason is not an irrational fear as much as grounded on the fact that Robots take jobs away from humans and the cities are so crowded that one cannot afford not to have a job and be unable to afford any of the already-limited resources available. Appearances *"Robbie", by Isaac Asimov (1940) *"Reason", by Isaac Asimov (1941) *"Liar!", by Isaac Asimov (1941) *"Robot AL-76 Goes Astray", by Isaac Asimov (1942) *"Runaround", by Isaac Asimov (1942) *"Victory Unintentional", by Isaac Asimov (1942) *"Catch That Rabbit", by Isaac Asimov (1944) *"Escape!", by Isaac Asimov (1945) *"Evidence", by Isaac Asimov (1946) *"Little Lost Robot", by Isaac Asimov (1947) *"The Evitable Conflict", by Isaac Asimov (1950) *"Satisfaction Guaranteed", by Isaac Asimov (1951) *''The Caves of Steel'', by Isaac Asimov (1953) *"Risk", by Isaac Asimov (1955) *''The Naked Sun'', by Isaac Asimov (1955) *"First Law", by Isaac Asimov (1956) *"Galley Slave", by Isaac Asimov (1957) *"Lenny", by Isaac Asimov (1958) *"Feminine Intuition", by Isaac Asimov (1969) *"Mirror Image", by Isaac Asimov (1972) *"Light Verse", by Isaac Asimov (1973) *"...That Thou Art Mindful of Him", by Isaac Asimov (1974) *"The Bicentennial Man", by Isaac Asimov (1976) *"The Tercentenary Incident", by Isaac Asimov (1976) *''The Robots of Dawn'', by Isaac Asimov (1983) *''Robots and Empire'', by Isaac Asimov (1985) *"Robot Dreams", by Isaac Asimov (1986) *"Christmas Without Rodney", by Isaac Asimov (1988) *"Too Bad!", by Isaac Asimov (1989) *"Robot Visions", by Isaac Asimov (1990) *"Cal", by Isaac Asimov (1991) Gallery Robbie.jpg|The title character from "Robbie", playing with his human friend Gloria. AsimovRobots.jpg|Dr. Susan Calvin examines mass-produced robots. ChristmasWithoutRodney.jpg|Two distinct robot models from "Christmas Without Rodney". AndrewMartin.jpg|Andrew Martin from The Bicentennial Man. Sonny-IRobot.png|Sonny from I, Robot. Notes *In addition to the above, Asimov has also written stories about other kinds of robots which might not take place in the same continuity and make no mention of positronic brains or the Three Laws of Robotics. Among these are: **"Segregationist", in which the robots, known as Metallos, are legally recognized as equals and have the same rights as human beings. **In "Let's Get Together" and "Sally", the robots (in the former) and intelligent vehicles with positronic brains (in the latter) are explicitly shown to not be bound to any kind of law that forces them to obey or to protect humans from harm. **Intelligent, apparently non-positronic computers are featured in stories such as "Someday", "Think!", "Nobody Here But—" and the many stories involving Multivac. Category:Robots Category:Unknown Sentience Category:Sapient Beings Category:Humanoids Category:Harmless Category:Urban Creatures Category:Foundation Universe Category:Characters Debuting in 1940 Category:Literary Creatures Category:Live Action Creatures Category:TV Show Creatures Category:Movie Creatures Category:Creatures Created by Isaac Asimov